“Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body’s defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response”, says healthguide.org.  We all have some version of stress.  Some is ok, stress can help you in times of emergency or when life requires you to be on your toes.  Chronic stress and emotional stress are the triggers for health problems.  The body doesn’t know the difference between physical and psychological stress, so it will react the same way to everyday stress as it would to a life or death situation.  

How do you react to everyday stress?  Do you hold it in, you know, way down in your stomach, do you react or do you respond to the situation?  There is a difference between reacting and responding.  Reaction is just the way it sounds….you react.  That could be with anger, frustration, yelling, blame, or any of the symptoms listed above.  A response is a conscious solution to the problem.  When something frustrating happens, taking a deep breath, looking at the problem and thinking…”OK, this just happened.  What am I going to do now”? 

But it doesn’t always work that way, does it?  The body responds to stress quickly.  Negative thoughts creap in, the tension starts.  So how about some alternatives for the moments when the answer isn’t there right away?  Here are some things that I always work for me for those “life’s uncertain” moments. 

Change your mind:  Change your mind, change your life.  Positive thinking can go a long way.  Fake it till you make it.  Change the negative thoughts in your head to positive ones.  Yes, you can!

Laughter:  Watch a classic comedy movie.  Laughter can stimulate your organs, soothe tension and stomachaches and activate and relieve your stress response.

Have a good social support: Friends and family who are there to give you a sense of belonging, self worth and your friends can be there to alert you to potential stress situations.  Be grateful to your friends and family for “being there” for you.

Relaxation techniques: Yoga, meditation, and tai chi can slow your heart rate, lower blood pressure, increase blood flow, improve concentration and reduce anger and frustration.  If you can’t make the time for a class, just sitting still and closing your eyes and counting will help. That old saying, “count to ten” when you are ready to explode, is a great way to go.

Exercise:  A simple 20 minute walk can go a long way to relieve stress and its effects.  I just got back from my walk and my mind is fresh for writing. 

Healthy eating: Wheatgrass juice will clear the mind, clear the fog of the day.  Eating a living food diet gives the body the energy to heal. 

Understanding your sources of stress can lead you to the solution.  Will the above work for you or do you need something more?  Seek help from a physician or therapist when it seems life’s ups and downs are just too much for you to handle alone. 

Here are some natural alternatives to take for stress relief:

Nux Vomica: can help with irritability, sleeplessness and headaches.

Bach’s Rescue Remedy:  Natural stress relief.  I always have this on hand.

Find out what works for you.  Daily stress can be reduced in intensity.   Listening to a stress reducing cd in your car on the way to and from work can help to alleviate the stressors of the day.  When you arrive home, changing out of your work clothes and just spending 5 minutes or more sitting and breathing. 

Relax, breathe….I wish you peace

What are canker sores?

Canker sores are small surface abrasions found on the inside of the mouth that can occur several times a year. They come and go within a week or so, on average. Canker sores can be brought on by fatigue, stress, fever, menstrual cycles, nutritional deficiencies and sensitivity to certain foods.
They can be as small as a BB, or as large as a quarter, but they usually feature a white, fleshy, sensitive center surrounded by a light red border. In almost all cases, they hurt (or at the very least, are extremely uncomfortable!)

Rid yourself of canker sores the natural way

For anyone who’s familiar with them, you know that once you get a canker sore, the only thing you can do is wait for it to disappear. In the meantime, try these little tricks and tips for minimizing the pain and the chances of a canker coming back*!

A well-balanced, nutritious diet and lifestyle is vital. Canker sore are just another reason not to smoke or chew tobacco. Researchers have found that reducing stress can speed up the healing time drastically – so get to the gym, do some yoga, and take it easy when a canker is present. There’s also evidence that refined sugar, processed foods and in particular citrus fruits can contribute trigger canker sores.

Get more Vitamin B12. Doctors have suggested that another canker sore trigger is vitamin B12 deficiency. Prominent B12 donor foods include clams, salmon, tuna, and other seafood. Breakfast cereals (remember to avoid high sugar!), cheese, and dairy products also contain B12, but not as much as fish. You can always bulk up on B12 through supplements.

Watch what you put in there! Studies by researchers have produced a growing list of things to avoid putting in your mouth to induce or exasperate canker sores. First, avoid eating spicy foods, if you can stand to. Also, try to avoid (or lesson) the amount of iron intake you’re feeding yourself – unless of course it’s been prescribed by your doctor. Do eat more salads, onions, and fresh or raw vegetables, and don’t use toothpaste that contain an ingredient called “sodium lauryl sulfate” – a common sulfide.
Now, how about some remedies? According to researcher Dr. James Bach, author of Prescription for Natural Healing, you can speed up the healing time for canker sores drastically by applying these natural oils directly to the surface of the sore:

• Tea tree oil
• Menthol or clove bud oil
• other topical painkillers that contain ingredients like goldenseal, licorice, myrrh, or lysine

These topical remedies are backed by scientific research, Bach says, and can be found at your local CVS. Apply these oils twice a day to the sore – about every 12 hours, but at the very least, before you go to bed.

Oh, and one more tip to help relieve the pain of canker sores the natural way. Swish your mouth warm salt water regularly – you’ll immediately feel relief and speed up the healing time significantly.
*Doctors, researchers and the medical professionals alike know only one thing about what causes canker sores – that nobody has figured out what causes canker sores. Unfortunately, they’re here to stay, but that doesn’t mean you can’t heal them the natural way!

Seven years ago I was just about half way into a month long yoga teacher training.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner consisted of a wonderful buffet line of healthy food options.  I was practicing yoga about 5 hours a day and participating in experiential workshops the rest of the day. So why was I feeling bloated and most certainly not healthy? Not to mention, my physical body was saying “stop working me so hard”!  I made an appointment with a wonderful body healer and his words to me were “Stop eating so much”.  What? Don’t I have to eat three meals a day?  “Try this”, he said, “Instead of a tray, two plates, and fork, knife and spoon, just take a small bowl and one utensil”.  So I believe I put people in front of me that I’m meant to learn from and I took his advice.  And yes, you guessed it, it worked.  I felt 100% better in no time.  My first experience with “less is more”.  The less I ate, the more my body could use its energy to help me get through this very long month of yoga and learning.  I not only ate less, I ate slower, allowing my body to digest, assimilate and eliminate to its optimum efficiency.

I’ll explain why this works.  Eating less allows your body to spend less energy digesting food and more energy healing.  It’s what your body wants to do…HEAL ITSELF!  Taking this one step further, digesting cooked food demands much more energy than the digestion of raw food.  Raw foods contain enzymes which aid in digestion, giving the body’s own enzymes a better chance to regulate the body’s metabolic processes.  Cooked foods deplete these enzymes, making digestion more difficult, which could lead to toxic build up in the body, obesity and chronic disease.   Raw food is not only good for physical body healing, but also for emotional body healing.  Having that extra energy gave me time and clarity to hear my own voice.   It wasn’t always a kind voice, that voice inside my head.  But at least now I could hear it and do something about it.

I’m a very bland raw foodist.  Simple and less is what’s best and what works for me.  I do eat some cooked food, but I don’t need or want as much as I used to.  And when I start to feel bad, physically or emotionally, the first thing I look at is what I’m eating.

Another lesson I learned at my month long training was the one of silence.  An extreme example in “less is more.”  At anytime you could choose to spend the day in silence.  There’s not enough space here to explain to you what happens when you do not speak.

I use “less is more” often during the course of my day.  I ask you to try it too the next time you are having a “discussion” with a loved one or with yourself.

Donna Bergonzi-Boyle

We are human beings…not human doings.  How can we stop doing and start being? Well, obviously we have to continue doing things.  There’s our work, our children, our pets, the daily chores, to name a few.  In these days of upheaval and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to take care of yourself.  This could just mean doing the above breathing exercise a couple times a day.  Eventually this exercise becomes part of your daily life.  Breathing will open your heart and slow you down, putting you right into the present moment.

Slowing down……let’s start here.   Yoga was a good start for me.   My first few years of practice I was your “type A” yoga student.  Moving fast through what the instructor asked us to do and definitely NOT breathing.  In my quest to “do” everything right, I was actually hurting myself and was most certainly NOT in the present moment.  Only when I woke up one morning and couldn’t move my neck, did I realize something was wrong with my way of thinking regarding the well being of my physical body.  This took me on a long journey through many types of healing modalities from accupuncture to x-rays.  It eventually led me to some great body work and to the raw food lifestyle.  And to practicing a more gentle form of yoga.  Now my yoga practice is more about what my body wants and not what my mind or the instructor wants.

What can you do today to start pampering yourself?  How about these ideas:

Cooking your evening meal during the day in a crock pot saves time.  Instead of slaving in the kitchen at night, take a few moments to do your breathing.  This will give your body the time to let go of the day, which will give you a clearer mind when it comes to choosing what and how much your body needs to eat.

I have only a very small space in my house to lay out my yoga blanket.   But I do this as many mornings as I can.   I also do some yoga before I even get up.  Set your alarm for just 10 minutes earlier and stay under the covers.  Breathe, stretch….and don’t forget to make sound on your exhale.

At night, I love my heated neck warmer.  Relieves the tension of the day.  I just close my eyes and put on some great soothing music.

I live in the northeast, where winter brings many sunless days. On the days the sun is in the sky, I put myself right in its path. Sitting in my window or laying on the floor to absorb the rays.

What are you going to do today that’s just for you?  How are you going to slow down during this very busy time of the year?  I am sending you light and love…….

Donna Bergonzi-Boyle